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British Columbia

This section is chock full of stories, so we've broken it up into sections for a-la-carte reading.  Navigate with the hyperlinks, or read it all.

- Kootenay and Okanagan Areas

- West Coast Trail

- Vancouver Island - Tofino and Ucluelet

- The Inside Passage and Queen Charlotte Islands

- BC Interior - North and Central

Ah, The West!

We bought a bottle of great wine and had a toast and a campfire at Mt. Fernie Provincial Park to celebrate making it to BC.

Our first stop was in Fernie where the local museum taught us about the coal mining and logging history of the Kootenay region.  The drive through the Kootenay and the Purcell mountains was breathtaking despite the rain, and included a ride on Canada’s longest free ferry!  We decided to spring for a hostel room in Nelson where we did an architectural walking tour and spent a considerable amount of time people-watching at the Oso Negro coffeehouse.  Nelson truly lives up to its hippie reputation!  Although the Nelson Brewing Company was closed for tours, we sampled the local brews at a nearby pub and truly enjoyed them!

The Slocan valley, in the Selkirk Mountains, was my favourite part of BC other than the coast, and the photos just don’t do it justice.

We sampled apples, plums, grapes and the juiciest peaches while we were in the Okanagan.  Some fabulous family time got us ready for the west coast trail. Oh yeah, and we dropped off Gram's newer car that we drove out in exchange for her older one. Thanks Gram! We've named it "Bucky", in memory of Gram's dog, as well as to characterize its lurch or BUCK as you shift the transmission into drive.

West Coast Trail

After envisioning rain, a damp sleeping bag, and the challenge of becoming ‘one with the wetness’ of the temperate rainforest, we were treated to an entire backpacking trip of  gorgeous sunshine! 

The west coast trail was one of the best hikes I’ve ever done, and certainly the one with the most variation in terrain, scenery and experiences beyond simply walking. There were cable cars, suspension bridges, ladders, beaches, gigantic mud holes, sea lions, sea urchins, bears, hamburger stands, fresh crab cooked for you at the ferry crossing, massive banana slugs, rainforests, waterfalls, wetlands and more. 

And the company!  Christine and Kamel Abougoush (Christopher’s Aunt and Uncle), along with Chris and I formed a great team on the trail with lots of jokes, good conversation, and great shared moments during the adventure.

The photos tell more of the story so check ‘em out. Some prize-winners in there for sure!

Vancouver Island - Tofino and Ucluelet

After the trail, Chris and I decided we hadn’t had enough of the coast, so we drove up to Tofino.  Although we found the surf a bit too chilly for us, we found the people in Tofino really warm.  A great connection at the Raincoast Interpretive Center helped us answer our long list of natural history questions and passed on a few hot tips for places to go around Tofino.  Subsequent to Jen’s suggestions, we hopped on a boat to Maquinna Provincial Park in the afternoon and soaked away the trail blisters at Hot Springs Cove at sunset and under the stars.  The hot springs collected in pools along a chasm in the natural rock walls, and you could choose your pool temperature by how far away from the source you bathed.  The pools furthest down were filling with chilly tidal waters when we were there, so there was even a natural ‘plunge pool’.  Apparently the hot springs during the day are crawling with German tourists, but at night, we had them all to ourselves!

From the ferry on our return to Tofino the next day we spotted a sea lion colony, grey whales and marbled murrelets and had some great chats with the Nu'cha'nulth band members who operated the boat.  That was my first time seeing whales in a group, surfacing and spouting water!  It was intriguing to think that researchers can identify whales based on the fleeting glimpses they get of their skin patterns. Or is it called a whale hide? I guess they have underwater cameras, but regardless, scanning the surface and waiting to see where they’d next pop up was exhilarating.

The next big ‘wow’ we had was at the Mini Aquarium in Ucluelet. The aquarium was outfitted with all of these touch tanks where you could pet sea stars, hold sea cucumbers, watch ‘seahorse’ sculpin dart around.  You could wiggle the water near featherduster worms until they pulled their tentacles into their hard tubes and feel the Velcro-like touch of anemones. The only down side was that the aquarium was fed with fresh sea water and it was FREEZING!  At the end of our ~ 1 hr. visit, I tried to write in the guest book and I couldn’t!  The hypothermia was intense and lasted long enough that I started to wonder if the toxicity of anemone tentacles might affect some people – even though the biologist assured me earlier that they only kill fish and can’t penetrate human skin.  After a bit of time passed and my hand was still clammy and arthritic, we headed for a coffeeshop where I rushed to the bathroom to run my hand under the steaming tap for a good five minutes…ahh relief and a return to normalcy.  Whew.

A road trip to the north end of the island brought us to Port Hardy and to another ferry adventure.

The Inside Passage and Queen Charlotte Islands

Chris and I arrived in Port Hardy in plenty of time to catch our 4:30 p.m. ferry sailing.  At the terminal, however, we were informed that the seas were so rough the ‘Queen of the North’ hadn’t yet arrived from the Charlottes, and that our ferry would now be leaving at approximately 11p.m.  Let me tell you, there is not much to do in Port Hardy after 5 p.m. when they roll the sidewalks up.  We hung out at the Laundromat and caught up on mundane things like organizing our duffle bags and washing our filthy gaiters.  After tea and seafood chowder to warm our bellies, we headed back to the ferry terminal, and slowly froze in our vehicle while the ferry was cleaned and conditioned for its next voyage.  Memories of buses in high altitude (read freezing) areas in the middle of the night….We sat in the car with our toques on and the hoods of our sleeping bags drawn up over our heads to stay warm.  At 1 a.m. we finally boarded the ferry, and as we set sail, I was greeted instantly with seasickness. The ferry headed straight for the big waters of Queen Charlotte Sound, and I thanked my lucky stars for Gravol.

Waking up the next morning, we were greeted with the mystical and shadowy hills that flank the Inside Passage.  The mist muted the weak sunshine that managed to peek through the near-constant rain clouds, and the effect was beautiful.  Waterfalls tumbled toward the sea, derelict work towns were tucked into the shoreline and the ocean was silky smooth.

We arrived in Prince Rupert to the news that the ship would attempt a sailing in an hour and a half, but after a brief trip to town, we were told that the ferry would spend the night in Rupert.  A floating hotel! We were treated to a few movies, and, having staked out a great spot at the bow of the ship, we tucked in for the night. 

The next morning - in what was becoming a distinct pattern – we were informed that our 10 a.m. sailing was going to be pushed back to 6 p.m.  At this point, the ferry was beginning to very much feel like home. Some newcomers had joined the ranks, and the faces of folks that had been familiar were suddenly accompanied by names and stories of their homes and travels.  We spent the day chatting with local Queen Charlotte Island residents who waxed poetic about the islands and filled us in on the best sights to see.  ‘Heavy Duty Bob’ and Fred - the coral carver - were both intriguing characters full of generosity and bad jokes.  It seemed like the more we heard of this famed destination, the less likely we were to ever arrive there!  After a day aboard the Queen of the North, we got cabin fever and rode our bikes into Prince Rupert for a change of scene. We rushed back for a potential 6 p.m. sailing, only to discover that the captain was still waiting for the shallow waters of Hecate Straight to smooth and that we would leave at midnight.

It is incredible to think that in these turbulent waters there are plans for offshore oil exploration.  If you don’t know about the issue of oil exploration in Hecate Straight, I’d suggest checking out David Suzuki’s synopsis of the issue at www.davidsuzuki.org.  Canadian Geographic did a quick two-pager on the issue in one of the spring issues this year too, if you have a subscription and missed the article.

As the ferry finally pulled out from the docks at 1 a.m. on our third night aboard the Queen of the North, the 3.5 meter waves slammed the hull and made walking impossible on the ship.  The boat actually only made it partway along its route before ‘hiding’ behind an island for a few hours, waiting for the storm to abate.

When we finally set our sea-legs down in Queen Charlotte City, the sun broke out for the first time in about a week, and everything we had heard about the islands seemed to come true.  Our time on the Queen Charlotte Islands was dreamlike. If you ever get a chance to go, take it!  The people are incredible, the scenery is stunning, the forests are verdant and lush with mosses, the lakes are nestled in wilderness and cradled by jagged mountains, and the beaches give you that feeling of timelessness and vastness.

We spent our first few days in QCC meeting folks at the farmers’ market, biking the Spirit Lakes trail, getting our bearings and visiting the Haida museum in nearby Skidegate.  From there we drove north along the most beautiful road I’ve been on in a long time. The highway up to Tlell hugs the ocean and gives you great views of rocky beaches and the sea as far as you can see.  Tlell is home to many artisan stops, and is the gateway to Naikoon Prov. Park. We camped in the sand dunes south of the Tlell River, which stretch north to Rose Spit, the most north-eastern point on Graham Island.  Rose Spit is featured in Haida mythology as the place where the first humans emerged, and we had a chance to travel up that way after a great hike along the Tlell River.  Masset is the community in the north, and we stayed nearby in a cabin at “Rapid Richies Rustic Rentals Reasonable Rates” (R6!). 

We bumped in to some folks we had chatted with on the ferry at R6, and Wendy and Sasha made great hiking companions the next day as we headed east to Cape Fife.  Our day with Wendy and Sasha was one characterized by that rare type of exchange where you seem to be instantly comfortable and fast friends with people.  Both of these fab folks are into organics, travel, treading lightly on the earth, community, and are grappling with the ‘what to do in life’ question, and we had lots to talk about on our 21km trek.  They invited us to their place on the Sunshine Coast, and we hope that after Hallowe’en we can take them up on the offer!

Our time on the north shores of Graham Island was also spent combing the beach, climbing Tow Hill – formed as a result of volcanic and glacial activity on the island - and taking a bike tour of the Delkatla Wildlife Sanctuary and the birds found there.

Returning to QCC, we spent a day biking on Moresby Island, investigating the community of Sandspit and its resident woodworking artists.  Our last day on the islands was sunny with a crisp fall breeze. We drove out to Yakoun Lake, a basin of forested wilderness in a grid of Weyerhauser log cuts.  The lake was quiet and peaceful, and we took advantage of the canoes stashed in the bush to see the area from the water. 

Despite the everyday rain showers and the cool fall weather, the QC Islands were a definite highlight of this trip.  I already have my next expedition to the area planned, with my bike as a primary vehicle, a rented sea kayak to see the tidepools and SGaang Gwaii - the Unesco Heritage Site on Anthony Island - and a 4WD vehicle as part of the mix.  Summertime in Gwai Haanas National Park, here I come.  The new Haida museum will be opening in ~2007, if any of you out there are interested in coming!

BC Interior - North and Central

From Prince Rupert we’ll be heading to the Hazeltons to see some of the totem poles at the ‘Ksan Native Village, visiting Smithers for a few days to hike glaciers and mountains, and rolling in to Prince George in time to catch a performance of the Vinyl Café with Stuart McLean…..that is if Highway 16 isn’t closed for snow and black ice like it is today!